Sometimes a photographic investigator realises that all their assignments, all their investigations and all their subjects are not "real"… they are just movements, actions, thoughts and characters in a dream. We do we continue to investigate then? I will try to answer this to another post.
Read MoreThe Vappa Light is essential to space and especially, time travel. It is the only known -to a very few, I assure you- way to cross great distances, not only interstellar and inter dimensional, but also emotional and psychic, in both space and time, without serious consequences. Not very serious anyway… Because time travel has always some consequences. The Vappa Light Drive has it's own will and only when it agrees with the will and the intentions of it's "user" something can happen. It can be approached in a few very distinct and very mystical places around the world and fate has led me to one of it's sources, following a tip about a job. It was a routine photographic investigation, but, what I did not know at the time was that I would be given the opportunity to "catch" my subject moments before a Vappa Light trip would take place. In the shots you can see the traveller girl bathing in it. A few moments later she disappeared.
Read More“The girl gave him a look which ought to have stuck at least four inches out of his back.” I am just quoting Raymond Chandler in "The long goodbye". I was in Ipanema again and the girl was saying goodbye. She was not originally my subject but she became one of the best ones, I must say… She will be missed.
There are many mystic places in Venice. Photographic Investigators prefer them because, let's face it, it's a mystic job… Mystic places have also a kind of magical effect on a photographic investigator's shots… they tend to speed up the process of the investigation. Also, they surround the investigator with a protective "bubble", which is also very appreciated because in this kind of work you need secrecy and discreteness. My favourite is the pizzeria "Alle Zattere", in Dorsoduro. It has a remarkable ability to attract my subjects so I can shoot them. This is very cool. So I seat there for coffee or lunch and they just come to me. And it makes the best pizza this photographic investigator has ever tasted. I am mostly a vegetarian, but I can never resist Alle Zattere's pizza con salsiccia & provolone… undoubtedly, a mystical experience. Here are some shots while I was waiting for my subjects, a beautiful morning Alle Zattere, with a very mystic "controluce", having a cappuccino…
Read MoreThis was the password phrase. I was investigating "The woman without a face", a notorious and mysterious ufologist and ancient civilisations specialist who had recently made a groundbreaking discovery… She was hiding in Plain Sight, a coffee shop that everybody could see but only the password would get you in. It was a 4 shots investigation and I can say one thing with certainty: she had beautiful hands.
Read MoreShe was known by the name of Penthesilea, the tragic, beautiful and heroic queen of the Amazons. Achilleas fell in love with her after he killed her in the Trojan War… The Roman poet Vergil wrote of her: "The ferocious Penthesilea, gold belt fastened beneath her exposed breast, leads her battle-lines of Amazons with their crescent light-shields… a warriors, a maiden who dares to fight with men". And he called her "Bellatrix". I investigated her in 4 shots. An Amazon Queen would'nt allow me more than this, anyway…
Read MoreA nightclub, a fun evening, two girls, Duran Duran, a photographic investigator and as many shots as she can get in less than a minute… Here it is…
Read MoreDo I see myself as I would like to be or do I like what I see? Investigating me is not easy. But it's surprisingly fun sometimes…
Read MoreYou find your subject in a coffee house, drinking coffee, smoking, talking about their plans, their dreams, their hopes, their fears, looking ahead towards their "life", what they think their life will or should be… Meanwhile, this life is right there, in that coffee house, with you, in a place they don't even "see". That gives a photographic investigator something to think about…
Read MoreShe was known to the photographic investigators circles as "La Gioconda" because the man who was obsessively chasing her was convinced that she had a relation to the famous Leonardo's model… Of course his conviction was well established after years of investigations and the study of numerous family trees… I came much later to the case and my job was to take several shots of her while she was hanging around with friends in Europe. If you've asked me, I would definitely say that she had a resemblance with the most mysterious and intriguing female portrait in history. And there was also something else about her… She had a "symmetry" in all of her existence. The way she moved, the way she was standing, the way she was smoking. Her secret was well hidden under a "girl next door" attitude. But I knew. Did she? My employer never said…
Venice and a red coat. Nicolas Roeg 1973 movie comes to mind… I'm still a great deal scared of Venice because of it. My subject had a red coat and was always looking at something: a camera, a cell phone, an art installation or something strange (that explain's why she was looking at me). It just made me wanna shout: "Don't look now!" but instead I took some shots.
Read MoreShe was an art curator on a secret mission. The China Syndrome was a 1979 movie starring Jane Fonda. The connection? Only I knew it.
Another mysterious character I was hired to investigate. I picked up a very bright sunny day to do that… and I managed to make her sunglasses disappear… But she was very resourceful, as you can see. Nobody really knew anything about her… Only that she travelled a lot… Was she dangerous? Maybe? Was I scared? You will never know.
Read MoreA fairy tale has many sides, and my job, of course, was to investigate them. To be continued…
Read MoreOr, what happens when a photographic investigator catches a ghost strolling around in a vaporetto from Burano to Venice.
Read MorePhotographically speaking, I always find it as intriguing as the front side. Often not misleading at all, but even more eloquent. Some say I should stop following people around…
Read MoreBefore Two becomes One (look at previous post), there are times, when you walk along a street, that you can catch with the corner of your eye a One that becomes Two. The important thing to remember is that you can see it only with the corner of your eye, because this action is the beginning of much trouble - and in life we can catch these decisive moments only when we are not looking straight at them.
Read MoreShe belonged in one of the most infamous secret societies of Venice. According to my well informed connections she occupied a key role in the "Mister's" circle, a group of enigmatic, mysterious individuals that roamed about this beautiful city, keeping their purpose well hidden. Of course I knew who they were and what they were doing. But to find out, I had to take the most sacred vow of secrecy that exists in my profession, not to mention that one word slipping from my mouth would fatally compromise Juanita and Lupe, my most valuable assistants. The "Mister" was not kidding…
Read MoreAs the pictures show, it happens in 4 moves and it is very common in art exhibitions. This incident happened during the Venice Biennale 2015, in Arsenale. A trained photographic investigator can spot them almost in all art related events, though.
Read MoreIt was the beginning of the most unpredictable fall of the decade… Revelations were about to take place, we knew that much, but when? And revelations, like solutions, never come from where you expect them to…
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